Skip to main content

Customized Normalcy Profiles for the Detection of Targeted Attacks

  • Conference paper
Applications of Evolutionary Computation (EvoApplications 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 7248))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 2172 Accesses

Abstract

Functionality is the highest semantic level of the software behavior pyramid that reflects goals of the software rather than its specific implementation. Detection of malicious functionalities presents an effective way to detect malware in behavior-based IDS. A technology for mining system call data, discussed herein, results in the detection of functionalities representing operation of legitimate software within a closed network environment. The set of such functionalities combined with the frequencies of their execution constitutes a normalcy profile typical for this environment. Detection of deviations from this normalcy profile, new functionalities and/or changes in the execution frequencies, provides evidence of abnormal activity in the network caused by malware. This approach could be especially valuable for the detection of targeted zero-day attacks. The paper presents the results of the implementation and testing of the described technology on the computer network testbed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Percoco, N., Ilyas, J.: Malware Freakshow 2010., White paper for Black Hat USA (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Falliere, N., Murchu, L., Chien, E.: W32.Stuxnet Dossier. version 1.4. Symantec Security Response (April 2011)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Tokhtabayev, A.G., Skormin, V.A., Dolgikh, A.M.: Expressive, Efficient and Obfuscation Resilient Behavior Based IDS. In: Gritzalis, D., Preneel, B., Theoharidou, M. (eds.) ESORICS 2010. LNCS, vol. 6345, pp. 698–715. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. Jensen, K.: Coloured Petri nets: basic concepts, analysis methods and practical use, 2nd edn., vol. 1. Springer, Berlin (1996)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Dolgikh, A., Nykodym, T., Skormin, V., Antonakos, J.: Colored Petri Nets as the Enabling Technology in Intrusion Detection Systems. In: MILCOM 2011, Baltimore, VA (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  6. http://apimon.codeplex.com

  7. Nykodym, T., Skormin, V., Dolgikh, A., Antonakos, J.: Automatic Functionality Detection in Behavior-Based IDS. In: MILCOM 2011, Baltimore, VA (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Melichar, B., Holub, J., Polcar, T.: Text Searching Algorithms. Czech Technical University in Prague Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (November 2005)

    Google Scholar 

  9. http://offensivecomputing.net/ (accessed in April 2011)

  10. Matrosov, A., Rodionov, E., Harley, D., Malcho, J.: Stuxnet under the microscope. ESET LLC (September 2010)

    Google Scholar 

  11. http://www.virustotal.com/

  12. Kolbitsch, C., Comparetti, P.M., Kruegel, C., Kirda, E., Zhou, X., Wang, X.: Effective and efficient malware detection at the end host. In: Proceedings of the 18th USENIX Security Symposium (Security 2009) (August 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fredrikson, M., Jha, S., Christodorescu, M., Sailer, R., Yan, X.: Synthesizing Near-Optimal Malware Specifications from Suspicious Behaviors. In: 2010 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Cavallaro, L., Saxena, P., Sekar, R.: On the Limits of Information Flow Techniques for Malware Analysis and Containment. In: Zamboni, D. (ed.) DIMVA 2008. LNCS, vol. 5137, pp. 143–163. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Lanzi, A., Christodorescu, M., Balzarotti, D., Kirda, E., Kruegel, C.: AccessMiner: Using System-Centric Models for Malware Protection. In: Proceedings of the 17th ACM CCS

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Skormin, V., Nykodym, T., Dolgikh, A., Antonakos, J. (2012). Customized Normalcy Profiles for the Detection of Targeted Attacks. In: Di Chio, C., et al. Applications of Evolutionary Computation. EvoApplications 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7248. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29178-4_49

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29178-4_49

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29177-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29178-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics